Magic embryology: first breath controls (Introduction)

by David Turell , Sunday, December 06, 2020, 00:07 (1231 days ago) @ David Turell

Placental embryos don't have to breath, but after birth a fist breath and thereafter automatic breathing must occur. this is under neural control:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201204110218.htm

"A new discovery reveals how something amazing happens when a baby takes a first breath.

"A team of researchers led by UVA's Yingtang Shi, MD; Patrice Guyenet, PhD; and Douglas A. Bayliss, PhD, have discovered a signaling system within the brainstem that activates almost immediately at birth to support early breathing. That first gasp that every parent cherishes appears to trigger this support system.

"'Birth is traumatic for the newborn, as the baby has to independently take control over various important body functions, including breathing," said Bayliss, chairman of UVA's Department of Pharmacology. "We think that activation of this support system at birth provides an extra safety factor for this critical period."

***

"Bayliss and his colleagues at UVA, working with researchers at the University of Alberta and Harvard University, found that a specific gene is turned on immediately at birth in a cluster of neurons that regulate breathing selectively in mice. This gene produces a peptide neurotransmitter -- a chain of amino acids that relays information between neurons. This transmitter, called PACAP, starts to be released by these neurons just as the baby emerges into the world.

"The scientists determined that suppressing the peptide in mice caused breathing problems and increased the frequency of apneas, which are potentially dangerous pauses in breathing. These apneas further increased with changes in environmental temperature.

***

"PACAP is the first signaling molecule shown to be massively and specifically turned on at birth by the breathing network,"

Comment: obviously some specific safety system of this sort had to exist. Certainly more evidence of design. Live birth could not have started unless this was already in place.